Rangers Place Michael Sauer on IR

According to Katie Strang of ESPN New York, the New York Rangers have place defenseman Michael Sauer on injured reserve (IR) retroactive to December 5.  The fact that Sauer was place on IR should not come as a huge surprise given that he has not been around the team or skated at all following suffering a concussion during the third period of the Rangers game against Toronto.   Prior to this Sauer had been listed as day-to-day.

Rangers Recall Tim Erixon

The Rangers announced they recalled defenseman Tim Erixon from the CT Whale of the AHL. Erixon has played well in 13 games for the Whale, recording one goal and 11 assists, though he did miss some games with injury a few weeks ago.

The recall does not mean Erixon is guaranteed to play, but could be precautionary since the Rangers have no extra defenders as they head out to St. Louis and Phoenix this week.  I believe Erixon will play because someone like Brendan Bell would have been the call if they just needed a placeholder on the roster.  Jeff Woywitka or Anton Stralman would be the most likely to be pulled from the lineup.  Stralman has outplayed Woywitka of late and a Woywitka turnover was directly related to the Dallas game-winner last night, so look for him to be the man in the press box.